Ammunition



Jan. 10, 1950 e. N. ALBREE AMMUNITION Filed Dec. 9, 1946 Wye 1%? w a" Patented Jan. 10, 1950 UNITE ST;

TES-

AMlVIUNITION George Norman Albrec, Winc'liester, Mass; Application December 9, 1946;Scnia'l Nip-715ml? is located a needle-like member that is movable relative to the body of the projectile from a retracted position, in which its pointed end is located within the projectile body, to an operative projected position in which such pointed end is projected beyond the nose of the projectilebody. The invention has for its object to provide means whereby the needle-like member in the bullet orprojectile will be moved from its retracted inop-, erative position toward its forward operative po-,

sition by the detonation of the primer and before such detonation ignites the main charge, thereby insuring that said needle is in its operative position before motion is imparted to the projectile body.

projectile disclosed in my above-mentioned Patent #2324346, it was found that when the needle was used in connection with lead core bullets conventionally loaded (cal. .30OG,Govt.), some of 'the needles moved forward perfectly from the inoperative to the operative position when the rounds of ammunition were fired, while in other cases the needle failedrto do so.-

This fact was proved by recovered bullets,v and.

years later by fiashphotographs of such bullets leaving the barrel. .It was, therefore, apparent that there was insufficient time for the needle to move even the short distance between its inoperative'and its operative positions before .the bullets started out of the neck .of. the case or shell andinto the rifiing of the barrel. It Was-also apparent that the rifling squeezed or swaged the lead core 50 that the needle was frozen against even the high pressure of the-gas developed within the combustion chamber.

Two possible solutions suggested themselves; (1) free boring the barrel for a couple of inches or so (that is wiping out therifling for that distance) which would, it was believed, allow sufiicient time for the needle to move forward, into it's' operative position before the bullet reached th'er'ifling of the'barrel; or ("2) a ready and simple means of directing an initial pressure full upon the head of the needle priorto theignition o'ithe'main' charge. The primer itself could be used for this purpose if a means were provided to bring its extremely potent force directly against the head of the needle.

During my early experiments with the needle 2 Claims. (Cl. 102-430) The immediate solution of the, problem seemed to. lie in, providinga tubular member which commun'icated atone endwith the primer pocket and extended through the, main charge substantiallytoth'erear end ofthe bullet, and. arranging said tubular member so that the rear end of the needle was, withinthe. forward end thereof, with the result that the pressure. developed by detonationof the primer would be through said tube and thus'upon-th'e needle head.

Such a tube-would not .only constitute a suitable means for applying the necessary pressure to thene'edle to move itjforward prior tothe ignition of the charge, but it would also serve the purpose of correctly positioning the bullet in the; ne ckofi'the case orv-shell'whenthe. latter was ,be-- ingfloaded, and it would. further provide means forflsoi-called front ignition of the charge. with.

all its, attendant advantages.

In the drawing: Big. 1 showsa round of ammunition embodyihg my i'nven-t'i'on with parts broken. away .to bet-- ter, illustrate .the' construction.

Ei g. .2.i's ,ajf'ragmentary sectional view-"showing another .embodimentof the invention Fig. '3 issa sectional view 0ft a needleprojec-- tilefishowing. the-correctposition of the needle during the flightof the proj ectile.

In the drawings loindicates the cartridge-case onshelihavingthe usual ,primer pocket 2 to rfeceive the primer 4- indicates thezbull'et, and 5' is the main charge/of one-Jor more kinds of propellanth I The bullet herein shown is of. the typeillustratedvin my-Patent #2324346, July 13, 1943', andiseformedi withxan axiai'bore 6 in which is received a needle-like .:membe'r 'l', hereinafter referred tons a needle. Such needleismovable in -the bore between a normal inoperative retracted position,- shown in Fig. 1-, in which the "To function properly, the needle should be. moved from its retracted, inoperative position sii'owninFi'g. 1 to its forward operative, position,

shown inFigfi'beforethe bullet leaves the barrel of the' and to insure this result,- I have provided means whereby when the'primer 3 is detonated, the energy released will operate first to move the needle forward toward its operative to: a forward" operative position position and subsequently to ignite the main charge 5.

For this purpose there is shown in Fig. 1 a tubular member 8 which extends from the primer pocket substantially to the base of the bullet 4, the rear end it of the needle when in its retracted, inoperative position, being within the tube 8.

Said rear end ll! of the needle I is preferably enlarged somewhat and is shown in the form of a poppet valve which is of a size to havea running fit within the tube 8. Said tube 8 is provided at its forward end with one or more openings H which are situated in front of the head In of the needle when the latter is in its retracted position. 7

With this construction when-the primer 3 is detonated, the energy released will operate upon the head I!) of theneedle and'force the latter forwardly in the bullet 4 from its inoperative toward its operative position. As the needle in its motion relative to the bullet nears its operative position and the end IO of the needle passes the openings H, a communication will be established between the interior of the tube and chamber containing the main charge 5 so that the primer .flash will ignite the charge. This construction, therefore, provides means by which when the primer 3 is detonated, the energy released thereby functions first to move the needle 1 forward toward its operative position before the charge is ignited and then to ignite the charge so that when the bullet 4 leaves the shell I, the needle 1 is already in its operative position. In the projectile herein shown the movable needle member 1 which carries the tip of theiprojectile has a small mass or weight as compared with the body portion of the projectile. Said projectile therefore might be described as a two-part projectile comprising a body portion containing the to ignite the main chargefi and thus set the body portion of the projectile in motion. 7

The tubular member 8 may be mounted in the shell I in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. Fig. 1 shows a case I having a conventional primer pocket 2 from which extends an opening .9 of a size to recess the rear end of the tube 8, which has a press fit therein, said tube being shown as ex tending clear to the rear end of the bullet 4.

In Fig. 2there is'shown a somewhat different construction in which thecase IA is constructed substantially as shown in my Patent #2,'263,941, November 25, 1941, which has a shell designed primarily for hand loading. In adapting this type of shell to the present invention the short tubular part I6 of said patent is replaced by a long tubular member l6 (Fig. 2) which extends substantiallyto the base of the projectile as shown with reference to the tubular member 8 in Fig. 1, and is provided with openings as shown at H' in Fig. 1.

The tubular element 8 or IE serves not only as a means to insure that the needle I is moved be ejected from the pocket 2 by grasping the tube l6 and turning it to advance it through the head 13. Said member l6 may also be used to load a fresh primer into the primer pocket as described in said Patent #2,263,941.

A further and important advantage of the construction herein illustrated is that ignition of the main charge takes place at the forward end thereof. This method of igniting the charge has well known advantages. 1

I claim:

1. Ammunition comprising a shell having a propellant-receiving chamber containing a main charge, a primer, a projectile mounted in said shell and having an axial bore, a needle-like member in saidbore and movable therein-from a retracted inoperative position into a forward operative position in which the point of the needlelike member projects beyond the noseof the pro-.

jectilesaid needle-like member being provided at its rear. end with a head which projects rearwardly from the projectile when said member is in its retracted position, and a tubular member communicating with the primer and extending substantially to the projectile and in the-outer end of which the head of the needle-likeniember.

is received and has a running fit, said tubular member having, communication with the propel-.

lent-receiving chamber in front of the head of said needle-like member when in its retracted position, whereby the gases generated by detonation of the primer act against the head of the needle-like member and move it relative to they projectile from its retracted position to its for ward operative position, and thereby open said communication for ignition of the propellant.

,2. Ammunition as described inclaim 1 in which the front end of the tubular member engages the rear end of the projectile and is provided with openings communicating with the propellant receiving chamber and situated in front of the rear end of the needle-like member when the latter is in its retracted position, whereby the energy released by detonation of the primer acts first on the end of the needle-like member to move it. forward and then ignites the main charge through said openings.

GEORGE NORMAN ALBREEI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Albree July 13, 1943,v 

